Isolation and regulation of the cGMP-inhibited cAMP phosphodiesterase in human erythroleukemia cells.

The predominant cAMP phosphodiesterase in human platelets is the low K(m) cGMP-inhibited phosphodiesterase (PDE 3A). We have isolated native PDE3A from platelets and human erythroleukemia (HEL) cells and studied its kinetics. The platelet and HEL cell enzymes hydrolyze cAMP with a K(m) = 0.5 microM. Incubation of cell supernatant with cAMP dependent protein kinase resulted in a rapid increase in activity within minutes, which resulted from a 2-fold decrease in K(m) with no increase in Vmax. HEL cells grown for 24 h in the presence of 50 microM forskolin, an adenylate cyclase activator, demonstrate further increase in PDE3A of 274% of control (p = 0.03). Cells incubated with forskolin and cycloheximide or actinomycin D demonstrated no increase suggesting that cAMP stimulates PDE3A synthesis by transcriptional regulation. The results indicate that cAMP affects both the short and long-term regulation of PDE3A. The latter effect may play a role in the developing hematopoietic cell and the cardiovascular system to regulate cAMP levels.

Cyclic AMP phosphodiesterases in human lymphocytes.

The function of lymphocytes, like platelets, has been shown to be inhibited by agents which increase intracellular cyclic AMP. Two high-affinity cAMP phosphodiesterases (PDEs), the cyclic GMP-inhibited cAMP phosphodiesterase, PDE3, and the cAMP-specific phosphodiesterase PDE4, are known to regulate cAMP concentration in haemopoietic cells by degrading cAMP to AMP. We characterized the relative contribution of the two PDEs to total lymphocyte PDE activity. We then determined which of the different gene products, PDE3A, typical of myocardium and platelets, or PDE3B, typical of adipocytes, were present in lymphocytes. The PDE3-specific inhibitor, milrinone, and the PDE4 inhibitor, rolipram, suppressed hydrolysis by 70% and 30% respectively, which indicated that both PDE4 and PDE3 were present, and that PDE3 was predominant. RT-PCR yields the expected size fragment for the primer pair PDE3B and not for PDE3A. The DNA sequence obtained had >95% identity with PDE3B. PDE3B appears to be the major cAMP PDE in lymphocytes. In contrast to human platelets, human lymphocytes appear to contain the PDE3B subtype. Since PDE3B in adipocytes is subject to hormonal regulation, lymphocytes may be similarly modulated. Understanding the role of cAMP regulation and the involvement of cAMP in lymphocyte function may have important implications in drug development.